Challenges associated with exposure to chronic trauma:Using a public health framework to foster resilient outcomes among youth

For many children, trauma exposure is a common and chronic experience. Chronic trauma exposure during childhood significantly increases the risk for emotional/behavioral disorders and academic failure. There is a critical need for school psychologists, and the schools in which they work, to understand the unique needs of students with or at risk for emotional disorders or academic difficulties secondary to trauma exposure. This article reviews the effects of trauma exposure on the psychosocial and academic functioning of children and discusses a public health framework for building social‐emotional protective factors into the school setting to foster resilience to trauma.